OOCL The SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirements

OOCL would like to notify our customers that The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS), requiring the shipper to verify and provide the container’s gross verified weight to the ocean carrier and port terminal representative prior to it being loaded onto a ship. A verified container weight is a condition for loading a packed container aboard a vessel for export. This requirement will become legally effective on July 1, 2016, after which it would be a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container onto a vessel if the vessel operator and marine terminal operator do not have a verified container weight.

For more details about the new requirement, please see the following information from The World Shipping Council:

http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/WSC_Guidelines_for_Implementing_the_SOLAS_Container_Weight_Verification_Requirement.pdf

http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/SOLAS_CHAPTER_VI_Regulation_2_Paragraphs_4-6.pdf

OOCL will make the appropriate changes to the documentation process in order to comply with the requirement and secure cargo loading for our customers.  We will continue to update customers on any further developments on this issue.